State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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Megan Thee Stallion has announced the inaugural Pete & Thomas Foundation Gala will go down in New York City’s Gotham Hall on July 16. The event, announced on Thursday (May 8), will be hosted by Taraji P. Henson, and feature DJ D-NICE at the turntables all night. It will also include a special musical guest who will […]
Vic Mensa has come out in support of Kehlani after the singer has seen two of their live shows canceled in recent weeks.
The Chicago rapper shared an open letter on Instagram to the Bay Area singer about her recently canceled SummerStage Central Park.
“Dear Kehlani,” his Wednesday (May 7) post began. “Few artists, and even fewer at your level of success, have chosen to center humanity and courage as boldly and uncompromisingly as you have, let alone at the peak of their popularity. Although newer to religion, I have a deep seated belief that God, or the universe, or however you categorize the all-powerful presence of the divine, is taking note — of every selfless action, of every sacrifice, of every time we jeopardize our security to do what’s right. I toe the line with you.”
He continued on by sharing that he sometimes has been reluctant to speak up because he didn’t want to lose opportunities.
“I lost a lot,” he wrote. “I’ll be honest. But, perhaps out of necessity, I have to choose to believe that when the smoke clears, I’ll look at my past with pride; I wasn’t perfect, but I forged myself out of fire. I took the hard road. I’ve been awe inspired by the way you’ve stood up. Especially at a time when I fell back and I asked myself, ‘Although, I need to feed my son, what kind of man do I want to inspire him to be?’”
Vic then brought up his Muslim faith and commended Kehlani for their sacrifice and bravery. “The highest form of sadaqah, or charity, is that which is given in health, and with much loved wealth,” he wrote. “When we give, not what we don’t need, but what we need most, the reverberation is supreme.”
He added, “I have often thought about your choices over the last 18 months. Wished I was more brave and more self sufficient. The truth is, your people love you. Not because of an opportunity provided to you by a booker here, or a city there, but because they cherish the depth of your soul. None of this can change that. As long as you have them you can never lose. The powers that be may be great, but I do believe we can all agree — there is a greater power.”
In response to Cornell University canceling their show, Kehlani reiterated that she isn’t antisemitic or antisemitic — she’s anti-genocide. When it came to the SummerStage cancellation, the musician responded with “lol” on Instagram Stories and added that they found out about the cancellation on IG.
The “Afterhours” artist has been open about her support for Palestine in the Israel-Hamas war. In 2023, they — along with numerous other musicians called for a ceasefire when signing the Artists Against Apartheid letter. Her 2024 music video for “Next 2 U” also featured dancers waving Palestinian flags.
After weeks of speculation, J.I.D. has announced his new album, God Does Like Ugly, and confirmed it’s dropping later this year. On Thursday (May 8), J.I.D. shared God Does Like Ugly will be released on Aug. 8. The Dreamville rapper had previously dropped off his new single “WRK” on April 18. The new track was […]
Rick Ross and Drake have remained at odds since exchanging jabs on a series of diss tracks last year, but Rozay is open to ending the beef with his “Stay Schemin” collaborator.
The Biggest Boss joined Bootleg Kev for an interview Wednesday (May 7), during which they discussed the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, something Ross saw as “necessary” for the rap game.
The conversation then switched to spotlight the root of Rozay’s issues with Drake, which Bootleg Kev theorized came from Drake’s treatment of French Montana on a track.
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“I spoke on that on the record I released. Like I said, ‘F–k that s–t,’” Ross said. “Was it something really deep? Nah, f–k that, though. But if you p—y, you p—y. If it’s real, it’s real.”
Now, it’s unclear if Ross is being 100 percent serious, but the Florida rapper says he’d be open to squashing his feud with Drizzy.
“You never know,” he began. “If a n—a send me a bottle of Luc Belaire, especially the white one. That go for any of these young n—-s out here … Send me a white Belaire and I’ll take a picture with you.”
Drake sent shots at Ross on his April 2024 “Push Ups” diss track, and Rozay returned the favor with “Champagne Moments.” Ross accused Drizzy of getting a nose job and referred to the OVO rapper as the “white boy” while continuing to troll the 6 God on social media.
Rick Ross and Drake have teamed up for a handful of anthems over the years, including Rozay’s three top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” “Money in the Grave” and DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One.”
Last year, Ross joined Yung Miami for an episode of Caresha Please, which saw him reflect on being at odds with Drake.
“He mentioned my name, and that’s a no-no,” he said. “Don’t do that, especially when it ain’t about no real s–t. But when you do that, OK then: this is how we gonna play. I can wake up every day and say ‘BBL Drizzy’ or some old s–t, while I’m smoking a joint, listening to the waterfalls and all that s–t, looking at the birds fly off. That s–t easy for me. I don’t know. It depend on how I feel. I ain’t losing no sleep over none of that.”
Watch Rick Ross talk to Bootleg Kev about his Drake feud below:
Usher has jokingly apologized to Sabrina Carpenter’s dad following a viral photo from the 2025 Met Gala that showed the R&B star feeding the “Espresso” singer a cherry during his performance. “Apologies Mr Carpenter,” Usher commented Wednesday (May 7) on Carpenter’s Instagram post in apparent tongue-in-cheek fashion alongside sweating and cherry emojis. The apology was […]
They say you never forget your first Met Gala — and in the midst of her winning streak, Doechii is in no danger of forgetting how her appearance at the 2025 event went down on Monday (May 5).
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Prior to event starting, footage caught the TDE rapper in a stressful moment as she was shuttled out of The Mark Hotel covered by a portable screen and a number of umbrellas looking to keep her Louis Vuitton outfit a secret before hitting the blue carpet.
Some fans took issue with how Doechii addressed her team in the midst of the tense moment, as she tersely instructed them to bring her more umbrellas. “Give me another umbrella, now,” she shouted in her clip. “I need more f–king umbrellas!”
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The parties involved took a few breaths and cooler heads prevailed as all appears to be good for Doechii and her team after what she called an “overstimulating night.” The “Anxiety” rapper had some fun with her reply to the candid footage catching her leaving the hotel as Doechii posted a TikTok on Wednesday (May 7).
“All jokes aside this was such an overstimulating night but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” she captioned the clip. “This was the night we all dreamed of and my team killed it (umbrellas aside).”
The TikTok video finds Doechii with her hands up, like the famed Druski meme, as The Commodores’ “Easy” provides the soundtrack. “God forbid a girl needs more umbrellas,” she wrote.
@iamdoechii_ All jokes aside this was such an overstimulating night but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! This was the night we all dreamed of and my team killed it (umbrellas aside) 😭🥴 ♬ Easy – Commodores
After successfully protecting her outfit, Doechii unveiled a crisp Louis Vuitton tux jacket with matching checkered shorts and a mahogany tie. “This is one of the biggest nights in fashion, and for it to be so Black .. .I’m present, I’m here,” the Grammy-winning rapper told Cosmopolitan. “I felt inspired by the theme of ‘student of hip-hop’ and I feel like that’s really dandy.”
Doechii was seen hanging out with Megan Thee Stallion and WNBA star Angel Reese inside as the Houston Hottie broke the no phone policy and filmed the trio sampling various appetizers from inside the venue.
Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell were tabbed as co-chairs for the 2025 Met Gala, which saw attendees serve looks tied to the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme, celebrating Black fashion.
Fetty Wap‘s team announced on socials that the rapper will return with a new single on Friday (May 9). The rapper’s team shared the news on his socials on Wednesday (May 7). In the post, they noted that they’d also be starting a petition to get Fetty out from behind bars, where he’s been since […]
The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow film hits theaters on May 16, and he revealed that his sleep paralysis diagnosis played a role in inspiring the movie.
Ahead of the film’s arrival, the singer spoke with The Fader earlier this week, when the superstar revealed that his suffering from sleep paralysis played a major role in inspiring Hurry Up Tomorrow. “There are no antagonists in this film,” he said. “I think that sleep paralysis is the enemy. One of the main concepts of this film is sleep paralysis.”
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The Weeknd added that he has since gotten his sleep paralysis under control with better sleeping practices limiting his lucid dreaming.
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“That is something that I was really dealing with, still am to this day, not as much as before, but they’re very vivid nightmares where you’re in bed and you’re half asleep, half awake,” he explained. “You’re aware of your surroundings, but you can’t move. You’re paralyzed for almost a minute. Sometimes you see a shadowy figure in the corner and you hear voices, sweet nothings. It’s saying nothing, but they’re voices.
The Toronto singer continued to say that lack of sleep was the biggest contributor to his sleep paralysis. “I did my research on it and it’s just a lack of sleep,” he concluded. “Your brain is still awake when you’re asleep. So my biggest medicine for it is just turn your phone off, turn the TV off, turn all the lights off. And yeah, you won’t get it. The irony is it’s got to all be dark and scary for you to sleep through the night.”
Hurry Up Tomorrow finds The Weeknd playing a fictionalized pop star version of himself while starring alongside Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan in the psychological thriller directed by Trey Edward Shults.
The star gave fans a sneak peek into a scene from the film on Wednesday (May 7) on Instagram. The clip finds The Weeknd osing his voice, but he learns it was due to a psychological condition and not from physical harm.
The clip direclty mirrors the Weeknd’s real life, as Tesfaye was forced to cancel a show after he lost his voice while performing “Can’t Feel My Face” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in September 2022.
Before the film’s arrival, The Weeknd will embark on his After Hours Til Dawn Tour. The North American trek kicks off on May 9 in Phoenix. Playboi Carti and Mike Dean are slated to serve as the tour’s special guests.
Watch a Hurry Up Tomorrow trailer below and look for the movie in theaters on May 16.
Ye (formerly Kanye West) stormed off the set of a contentious interview with Piers Morgan on Tuesday (May 6), and the Uncensored host has provided some context about why Yeezy pulled the plug on the combative, short-lived chat.
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Morgan hopped on X on Wednesday (May 7), where he claimed that West and his team were giving him the run around leading up to the interview. “He was costing us time and money,” Morgan said. “And my patience was almost running out.”
After getting the go-ahead to conduct the interview, Morgan says the conversation got off to a rocky start when Morgran addressed Ye as “Ye West,” which the rapper took issue with since he’s trying to lose his “slave name.”
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“I did talk to him for about three minutes,” Morgan said. “When I asked him how he was, he pointed to the backdrop behind him. Actually a pleasant backdrop, this time of Mallorca, which implied he was in a great place. I said, ‘You seem happy and content. Which is a direct contrast to what is going on with you on social media.’”
Morgan then got West’s follower count on X wrong, which upset the rapper. The host said Ye had 32 million followers when, in actuality, Ye has compiled just over 33.3 million followers as of press time.
“At that point, he went into a great theatrical strop. It’s not 32 million — it’s 33 million,” Morgan recalled. The interview came to a halt as Ye got up and left, leaving Sneako to deal with a frustrated Piers Morgan.
*NEW* Here’s a snippet of my inside take on the whole Kanye interview debacle that’s now making news around the world. For the full inside story, go to the link in my bio… pic.twitter.com/SCpIuxKfT3— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 7, 2025
So, I interviewed Kanye West again today. As I expected, given what I’ve said about him recently, it didn’t last long or go well. This was him right before he stomped off like a big baby. Drops on @PiersUncensored later… pic.twitter.com/m8TDGDpwgs— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 6, 2025
“You’re not gonna take inches off my di–, bro.” the Chicago native said before he left the interview. “I’m a gift, bro. Why do all you people in media act like you haven’t played my songs at your weddings, or graduations or at funerals or when your child was born?”
He continued: “You take someone like that’s living, like a [John] Lennon or a Michael Jackson. That nuance right there is idiotic. It just shows the hate that you put out for people that put out love. There’s so much love in the art that I put out. This is what you get for now, we can circle back when you can count.”
Morgan referred to Ye as a “sniveling coward” and proceeded to pepper Sneako with questions about Yeezy’s recent tirades on X that have included antisemitic remarks and praise for the likes of Hitler and Diddy.
Watch Ye’s full interview with Piers Morgan below.
Rubi Rose says women should be weary of BBL’s and instead advocated for them to hit the gym. On Tuesday (May 6), Rubi Rose pleaded with fans on X to stop getting butt implants after she had shared a video of her twerking in a car. “Please stop getting a— shots,” she wrote. Rose then […]
